NEWS

Japan cruised past Qatar 3-0 Wednesday in their third match of the final round of Asian qualifiers for the FIFA 2010 World Cup.7

Playing at Al Sadd Club Stadium in Doha, Tatsuya Tanaka, Keiji Tamada and defender Marcus Tulio Tanaka scored to give Japan the win.
Japan now have seven points after two wins and a draw, but still trail Group 1 leaders Australia by two points. Qatar remain third on four points, followed by Bahrain and Uzbekistan with a point each.
Australia beat Bahrain 1-0 in Manama on Wednesday. Uzbekistan, the fifth team in the group, were idle.
“Our players showed their fighting spirit and unity in today’s game, and that’s the thing that pleases me the most about today,” Japan coach Takeshi Okada said.
Qatar, who were winless in their last two qualifiers, as well as in two warm-up matches earlier this month, started positively with fast, physical football.
Qatar midfielder Khalfan Ibrahim KH A Al-Khalfan set the pace for the hosts with his slick dribbling skills, and combined with forward Sebastian Quintana and midfielder Hamid Ismaeil H Khaleefa to put pressure on the Japanese defense.
The hosts’ first effort came with a header from Ibrahim Majed A Abdullmajed off a free kick, but it was the visitors who went ahead first with a goal in the 20th minute.
Tatsuya Tanaka reacted quickly when the Qatar defenders failed to deal with a long through pass. The Urawa Reds striker brought the ball under control and slipped a low shot through the legs of Qatar goalkeeper Mohamed Saqr Ahmed from a tight angle. The goal helped Japan take control of the game.
A minute after the break, Japan widened their lead to 2-0. Nagoya Grampus forward Tamada took a pass from Makoto Hasebe on the left and fired in a fierce shot from just outside the box.
Vissel Kobe forward Yoshito Okubo had a golden opportunity in the 57th minute when he broke through and unleashed a powerful shot, but the Qatari goalkeeper reacted well to clear the danger.
In the 69th minute, Marcus Tulio Tanaka made it 3-0 as he headed in a Shunsuke Nakamura cross following a short corner.
Okada tried to increase the pressure on the home side later in the game by sending on St. Etienne midfielder Daisuke Matsui and Shimizu S-Pulse forward Shinji Okazaki.
“I’m grateful to our players who fought hard as a unit,” Okada said, “The second goal at the start of the second half helped us a lot, as it enabled our players to relax more.”
The Japanese coach added: “The three points we collected today are significant, but nothing has been decided yet. You never know what is going to happen in World Cup qualifiers. We’d like to work on improving the precision of our game. But the team is gradually making progress.”
Qatar coach Bruno Metsu commented, “When you play against a strong team like Japan, you should keep your mistakes to a minimum, but we made a few errors today.
“We started the game well, but the first goal was a setback. Then, when we went into the second half with high hopes of coming back into the game, we quickly gave up the second goal. That changed everything and brought negative consequences to our players.”
  Japan’s next qualifier will be a home match against Australia in February.

Teams:
Qatar--Mohamed Saqr Ahmed, Mesaad Ali A M Alhamad, Ibrahim Majed A Abdullmajed, Majdi Abdulla Siddiq (Magid Mohamaed I Hassan, 80th), Meshal Mubarak A M Budawood, Fabio Cesar Montesin (Mohammed Abdulraab A A Al Yazidi, 68th), Khalfan Ibrahim Kh A Al-Khalfan, Talal Ali H Albloushi, Bilal Mohammed B Rajab, Hamid Ismaeil H.Khaleefa (Sayd Ali Bechir, 59th), Andres Sebastian S Quintana. Coach, Bruno Metsu
Japan--Yoshikatsu Kawaguchi, Shuhei Terada, Atsuto Uchida, Marcus Tulio Tanaka, Yasuhito Endo, Tatsuya Tanaka (Daisuke Matsui, 71st), Shunsuke Nakamura, Keiji Tamada(Hisato Sato, 92nd+), Yuto Nagatomo, Yoshito Okubo (Shinji Okazaki, 86th), Makoto Hasebe. Coach, Takeshi Okada
Goals—Tatsuya Tanaka (19th min), Keiji Tamada (47th min) and Marcus Tulio Tanaka (68th min) for Japan
Cautions—Bilal Mohammed B Rajab, Magid Mohamaed I Hassan, Ibrahim Majed A Abdullmajed (all Qatar)
Expulsion--None
Attendance—13,000 Referee—Sun Baojie (China)